Twist of Time
by Angel Weasel-Woman
Summary: AU When an accident occurs with a jutsu, Naruto is thrust into the time of the Fourth Hokage. There, a great truth is revealed and Naruto's life is will never be the same again.
1. The Jutsu

"Age Appearance altering?" Naruto groaned, glancing at the chapter title for his next lesson. Turning sapphire orbs to Tsunade in a glare, the twenty-year-old asked, "When the hell am I going to use Age Appearance altering?"

"Now, Naruto," the Hokage told the Jounin through clenched teeth. "No one knows what Jutsu one must know before going into battle. After all, one day you may need to take on the appearance of and elder or even your younger self." Naruto continued to glower and Tsunade growled before bopping him on the top of the head. "Damn it, Naruto – I have to take time to _personally_ train you because you're still doing worse than your peers!"

"You think I don't know that!" Naruto yelled. "It's not like _Sasuke_ hasn't noticed." The blonde folded his arms across his chest and grumbled, trying not to fume worse over the memories of the dark-haired Shinobi gloating.

Tsunade sighed as the blonde ranted and attempted to figure out how she could get Naruto to work when he clearly didn't want to. Ramen, maybe? No. She was already too deep in debt, no reason to add on more. He had no real interest in money or anything else really.

Finally, she decided to hit low and said, "You know, Sasuke has already almost mastered this technique."

Immediately Naruto looked up, fiery determination in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Of course." No. She hadn't even mentioned the technique to him.

"All right," he suddenly said, clenching his fist. "If Sasuke can learn this, then so can I! And I bet I can finish it quicker!"

Tsunade gave a forced grin. "Sure," she drawled. "Now, Naruto, do you remember what this Jutsu entails?"

"Of course…"

"Well?"

Suddenly he grinned sheepishly. "I know them, I know them… But do _you_ remember?"

Tsunade gave a frustrated groan, tilting her head back momentarily before saying, "You don't pay attention _ever_, do you?!" Placing a hand on her forehead, she explained without waiting for Naruto's response, "This Jutsu alters the time in and about one's body. With the correct amount of chakra the user can either speed up time or reverse it enough to change one's age. It's a temporary Jutsu lasting up to twelve hours at most and uses hordes of chakra. It's extremely difficult to gauge and use the correct amount of chakra and sometimes take years to master."

"Right," Naruto said, nodding. "And the seals to go forward are monkey, rat, tiger, boar, rat, hare, dragon, bird, bird, dog, monkey and back is ox, hare, tiger, hare, ox, serpent, dragon, bird, ox, ram, dog, right?"

"Close – the last seal for back is horse."

"Horse. Got it."

"Good. Now, try it. Go back."

Naruto placed his legs apart and brought his hands together, closing his eyes and focusing. Feeling the rush of chakra running through his body and gathering at his finger tips, his hands began to fly, forming the seals.

Ox.

Hare.

Tiger.

Hare.

Ox.

Serpent.

Dragon

Bird.

Ox.

Ram.

Dog.

No! Wait! Horse!

It was too late.

Chakra rushed before Naruto eyes, filling his vision with blue light. He felt the bones in his body shifting and the muscles stretching to their max before constricting painfully. A cry of pain left his lips before he collapsed to the ground, darkness overtaking his vision.

* * *

Damn muses, waking me up at 1:30 in the morning to write this damn thing.

Naruto: What are you talking about "waking up"? You hadn't even gone to sleep yet!

Angel: I was just getting into bed! That counts! -pouts and curls up in Kakashi's lap; yawn- Me shweepy. Say disclaimer, Nine.

Nine: Angel doesn't own Naruto, otherwise this would wind up being truth.

Kakashi: -glances at Angel who's passed out in his lap; looks at Nine; shrugs; throws Icha Icha Paradise at Nine-

Nine: -glare- Damn you…

Kakashi: -grin- And, in Angel's place, Till next time!


	2. Waking Up

Naruto groaned softly, squinting his closed eyes. Around him, he could hear hushed movement suddenly stop. Cracking open one eye, he winced at the bright white light that flooded his vision.

"Boy?" came a soft voice from beside him. Turning his head, he squinted to see a brown and white blur beside him. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he opened his eyes more and more to see a young woman with shoulder length brown hair peering worriedly at him. "Are you all right boy?"

"What… what happened?" Naruto asked, struggling to sit up.

"Oh no you don't," the woman said, pushing him back down. "You got a good-sized knock on the head – I wouldn't be surprised it you were still bleeding."

"'Bleeding'? 'Knock on the head'? That can't… I don't remember…"

The woman ignored his mumblings and gently reached up to the bandage that wrapped around his head. Removing the dressing, she smirked and nodded.

"Just as I thought – still bleeding." Tossing the dirtied gauze, she took the roll of bandages from beside her and rewrapped Naruto's head. "Now you just lay here and heal, all right?"

The blonde mumbled something before his eyes closed and he fell into darkness again.

* * *

This time, when Naruto awoke, the woman who was there before was gone and two ten-year-olds were chattering at the door. The boy, with dark brown hair and eyes, glanced away from the girl, with light blonde hair and soft aqua eyes that looked so familiar, when he heard Naruto shifting and sitting up.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked, a touch of worry in his voice.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked before blinking. Was something wrong with his voice?

"You're in the Konoha Hospital," the boy explained. "Me 'n' Em found you outside. You looked pretty bad."

"Out… side?" He closed his eyes and lightly shook his head, stopping when the movement dizzied him. When did he get outside?

"You were hit on the head and bleeding," the girl spoke. "The nurse says that it would do well for you to stay here for the next few days. She wants to make sure there's nothing wrong with your head."

"So, what's your name?" the boy asked suddenly. "I don't remember seeing you around the Academy before and you were wearing a Leaf hitai-ate when we found you."

"My name?" Naruto asked, still kind of dazed and wondering what was different with his voice. "It's Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well, Naruto, I'm U-"

"All right," came the sudden voice of the nurse. "You two get out. This young man needs his rest and he was sleeping when I left. There's no doubt why he is awake _now_." She leered at the boy who grinned sheepishly before smiling herself. "Now, _out_."

"Bye, Naruto," the ten-year-olds called, leaving the room. "We'll come back," the boy promised as the nurse shut the door.

"All right, then, boy, let's check your head again."

The woman walked towards him and bent over slightly to reach down and take his head in her hands and he frowned. Something about this wasn't right… The nurse was very tall.

"There we go, boy," she smiled, tossing the bandages.

"Why do you keep calling me boy?" Naruto asked, as the nurse began to rewrap his head.

"Well, I can't go and call you 'girl,' now can I?"

"But, I…" Her tallness was really getting to him. He could remember being short when he was a child, but when he finally came of age he was taller than Sasuke – and Sasuke was almost six foot! How could this nurse be taller than him? And what was with the "boy"?

The woman smiled at him as she finished up with the bandages and gently patted him on the top of the head.

"All right, boy. Now you just get more rest – I'll be back in about an hour to get you dinner, ok?" Smiling, she stood up straight and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Watching the closed door for a moment, Naruto sighed and fell back onto the stacked pillows that kept him upright, glancing around the room. The walls were the usual hospital white, and there were two chairs up against the wall next to the door. The bed he was in seemed a little big for some reason that he couldn't place and was the standard white. Next to his bed was a small white table and opposite the door, on the wall his bed was pressed against, was a window with steel bars on the outside.

Naruto sighed, bored, and continued to watch the eastern sky outside his barred window as it darkened, the clouds becoming dyed soft pink as the sky washed over with violet, light at first, but darkening quickly.

It was only after the nurse had come and gone again and the sun had left the sky completely that Naruto noticed that he could see his reflection – however faint – in the window. Peering closely, he saw his usual wild blonde hair, now dirty with lack of washing. A white bandage was wrapped around his head where his hitai-ate once was, but he had seen it on the table, so he wasn't worried about it. His eyes were the same blue and he still had the six whisker markings on his cheeks. He was dressed in the usual hospital gown and had no idea where his clothes were quite yet.

Suddenly, he blinked and sat up to peer closer at his fuzzy reflection. His eyes seemed… wider, than he could remember. And he was very, very…

Short.

His eyes widened and he suddenly fell back heavily, paling slightly.

He was _ten_!

* * *

Second chapter done!

Nine: You seem to be getting on quickly with this one.

Angel: Yeah, well, I have a bunch of other stuff to get typed and this is the only one I don't have written down on paper somewhere so I need it out when I can get it.

Nine: Ah. So you'll be working on your others now?

Angel: -nod-

Nine: Then you're leaving us?

Angel: Temporarily.

Nine: Yay!

Angel: -throws stuff at Nine; suddenly runs out and kidnaps Yondaime and Itachi; glomps them and sits in Kakashi's lap- They are mine, neesan! You shall never get any of them! Yar-har!

Kakashi, Yondaime, Itachi: -roll eyes-

Naruto: -deadpan- Oh, joy. More people. -points- That bathroom is getting really crowded, you know!

Angel: -jumps up and points- Ha! So you do live in my bathroom!

Nine: -smacks Naruto- Idiot! You just told her!

Angel: -proud- I don't own Naruto, so, till next time!


	3. Confusion

* * *

Ten, Naruto thought, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. How can I be ten? What in the world happened? Just the other day I was… 

_"This Jutsu alters the time in and about one's body." _

Crap.

But… But he didn't _want_ to be ten! When he had been performing the jutsu, he had supposed that he would wind up being about sixteen – fifteen at the least! Not _ten_! He didn't like being ten. He had _never_ liked being ten.

"Well, that does it," Naruto grumbled, throwing the sheet off him and crawling off the bed, fighting down a wave of dizziness. "I'm going to Tsunade and getting this damn thing taken off me." And if this were one of her damn jokes, he was going to kick her ass.

Naruto had made it halfway to the door before stumbling and dropping to his knees.

"Damn it," he hissed. Why wasn't he healing? Normally the wound and side effects would be all but non-existent by now. Refusing to allow this to deter him, he sat back on his heels, waiting for his vision to clear.

He was just pulling himself back to his feet when the door flew open and the nurse looked down at Naruto, a frown settled on her lips.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" she demanded, stalking over to him and lifting his up by one arm. "You shouldn't be out of bed -"

"I have to see the Hokage!" Naruto ground out, trying vainly to wrench his arm from the woman's grasp.

"Not now, you won't. The Hokage is very busy." The nurse forcefully placed the flailing boy back on his bed. "If you are that desperate, then we will go first thing tomorrow morning after your check-up."

Naruto, exhausted from the exertion his new – old? – body wasn't quite used to yet, grumbled something out before allowing himself to fall back onto the sheets and into darkness.

* * *

The blurry hospital ceiling was the first to greet Naruto's vision as he came to, proving that all his previous thoughts were not a dream. To continue to dash all hopes, the nurse was just walking into the room, clipboard in her hands. After fussing over the blonde for a bit, jotting notes down all the while, she put her hands on her hips and sighed.

"All right, boy, you're doing just fine. You should be able top get out of here in about a day."

"And the Hokage?" he pressed, peering up at her.

"Just let me get some clothing for you and we'll leave."

"'Get some clothing'?" Naruto parroted. "What about what I was wearing before?"

"That? That's way too big for you. I'm certain you'd drown in fabric if you were to put _that_ on. I don't know, nor want to know, why you were wearing them in the first place."

"But – but my vest…"

"Vest? Boy, there was no vest anywhere near you when those two found you."

"But… I…"

"Yes?"

"I just… Never mind. When I get to the Hokage I'll be able to sort things out."

"All right, then." And with that, the nurse left the room for a few minutes, returning with a bundle of clothing that she unceremoniously dumped on his bed before retreating to just outside the door. Pulling a face at the innocent cloth, Naruto dressed slowly so that his head wouldn't hurt so much and stepped out of the room after grabbing his hitai-ate and stuffing it in one of the pockets, looking up at the nurse.

Her soft eyes scrutinized him, as though to make sure he'd put on the black pants, brown shirt and too-large blue zori correctly. Apparently pleased with what she saw, she nodded to herself and waved a hand to motion him onward.

"We'll stop by the front desk before we go. The entire trip should take us around ten minutes. If you feel dizzy or short of breath all of a sudden, tell me. I don't fancy having you pass out in the middle of the street on me, ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Naruto replied, already moving forward.

The nurse merely quirked an eyebrow before setting off behind the blonde. It wasn't long at all before the duo found themselves in front of the main desk where the nurse told Naruto to wait for a moment while she talked to the receptionist.

"May, I'm taking the boy from room 234 to the Hokage-sama's office. If either of the children comes by, please tell them that we will be back shortly."

"Yes ma'am," the young woman said with a smile that the nurse returned. The elder then turned back to Naruto and told him, "We're clear to go, so hurry on."

The blonde merely gave an impatient shrug before he was led out of the hospital and down the streets of Konohagakure.

From the first step he'd taken, something had immediately struck Naruto as "off." He continued to glance up and down the streets with narrowed eyes, nibbling on his lower lip, attempting to discern what he was feeling when a young man connected eye with him. Instead of the usual flinch and disgusted head turn, the man merely smiled and waved at them before heading off on his own way.

That was it!

Nobody was scowling at him!

Naruto's eyes knitted together at this sudden revelation as a single question fluttered through his mind.

Why?

Even with becoming a Jounin, passing with fairly decent scores, Naruto was still hated. The one thing he could truly count on in the village, no matter how sad it may have been, was the villager's hatred of him. But this man…

This man had _smiled_ at him. No malice anywhere in his stance.

Had Tsunade managed to do something for him while he was out?

He shook his head before placing a hand to it gently as his vision swam for a moment.

Something else to ask the old hag, he thought.

"Here we are," the nurse said, jerking him out of his thought and back into the real world. He looked up at the Hokage building and nodded firmly to himself. He was not going to leave that building until his questions were answered.

Entering, the duo passed down several hallways, pausing to let the nurse converse with several people, before stopping before a decorated doorway, a brunette ninja standing just before it.

"The Hokage-sama has been alerted to your presence and is now expecting you. You may enter," he said, stepping aside. The nurse bowed her thanks and ushered Naruto into the room, the blonde opening his mouth to rant at Tsunade. When he saw he Hokage, however, his mouth froze and four thoughts made themselves known.

One – the Hokage was distinctly _not_ female.

Two – the Hokage actually _looked_ about fifty.

Three – the Hokage had black hair and eyes, a long pipe sticking out of his mouth.

Four – this was _not_ Tsunade. It was…

"Sandaime?"

* * *

-wide grin- Bet I confused the crap outta y'all with those last lines, now didn't I?

Itachi: -deadpan- Great, she's happy. This won't end well for us.

Angel: -ignores him; is happy- No one's has guessed what I'm doing with this yet. Joyous day.

Yondaime: Well no one can! You're too eccentric even for _us_!

Angel: I do try. -suddenly whines and give Ash-chan the puppy eyes- Can I have my muse back, yet? Please?

Naruto: -points and laughs- She's ignoring you!

Angel: Silence, pawn! Or I shall name your son "Toilet"!

Naruto: -grinblegrumble-

Nine: -sigh- Ah, the joys of Harvest Moon. -rolls eyes-

Angel: Bah on the lot of you! Anyway, I don't own Naruto, so, till next time!


End file.
